A Simple Wireless Network? Not Likely
As one of the first hints for a popular wireless Internet router from Netgear gives its owner a choice between the security protocols) known as WPA-PSK (TKIP) and WPA-PSK (TKIP) + WPA2-PSK (AES, you know The house networking industry has problems.
The technology industry wants us all to believe that a large number of Americans are happy streaming movies, Twitter feeds, photos and movies from the Internet to any TV in the house.
The reality is that to make up a home network, what happened is still a daunting task than most Home Improvement projects. And it can still harder you work reliably when each family member in his or her own computer or smartphone, while streaming is, posting and browsing.
"The wireless category has never even invited to the consumer," said Simon Fleming-Wood, senior director of marketing at Cisco , the devices from Linksys has the trademark of home networks. "When you shop for networking products, you will feel like in the plumbing aisle of a hardware store."
While the idea of untethered access to content when roaming from room to room is appealing, there is only so much bandwidth in the house available to all that to handle the traffic at the same time.
Popping popcorn in the microwave for the kitchen Netflix movie you expect Wii-Stream Network can disable your on. Or the desire to watch your spouse YouTube baby on roller skates could slow down your ability to home video download, that you wait for your spreadsheet from BOSS to you to revise.
Everyone loves the idea of wireless – and that is the problem. Most wireless traffic travels on the 2.4 GHz band, including cordless phones. A microwave oven operates with the same frequency. Set to a wireless router to either close and you can easily knock the router off line or slow the response rate to a crawl.
Your neighbor's network can do the same. "The 2.4 GHz band is unlicensed, so that all neighbors with that frequency, interfere with your bandwidth, and it happens more and more," Chris Geiser, a product line manager for Netgear said, a manufacturer of network products.
The routers use the latest 802.11n standard, the further a wireless signal to send than the older 802.11b standard, which always good for the signal to your upstairs bedroom is allowed to travel – but it can also it to your neighbors upstairs bedroom.
Some of the new N standard router with a second, higher 5-gigahertz frequency, the interference from kitchen appliances. The problem is that not all devices can search for the radio signal that receive higher frequency. For example, Sony '3 and a few PCs to run PlayStation s that only on congested 2.4 GHz band.
Where did your router can drastically change the distance the signal can travel. According to Mr. Fleming-Wood, a wireless router signal strength may be cut short when it hits walls at an oblique angle or tried by a kitchen tile or a bedroom full of mirrors to travel.
You can use the signal range of a wireless router with a device, called the bridge or Wireless Range Extender . (You can also use the Wi-Fire , an external antenna that hField Technologies increases the signal strength.) But if the signal emanating from the router is not strong enough to get the bridge can not prove the connection.
can make "just a router moves to the top of a desk the difference," said Joe Melfi, associate director of technical marketing at D-Link, which makes both wireless and wired Internet hardware.
A direct cable connection to PC, Internet-enabled TV or game console usually works better than a wireless network. According to Mr. Geiser from Netgear, the company receives 70 percent fewer support calls for its products than its wired wireless ones.
Setting up a cable connection to most places in your home is easier than you think. While most of us have no Ethernet cable – the thick wires, which come in blue or yellow and have thick phonelike connectors on the ends – in the walls of our homes, there is a simple solution: use a special module to send the Internet signal from your router to your existing house electrical wires or cables. The signal will pop out by a receiver module you place in the vicinity of the PC or TV, you want to connect to the Internet.
"If I choose a whole, a wired solution was definitely the better choice," said Mr. Melfi.
Neither solution is right for every home. The electrical wiring products, HomePlug Powerline or known as (the latest, fastest version is available HomePlug AV ) can not be in a position, multiple streams of HDTV wear. And the cable solution, called MoCA , will not work if you use coaxial cable to receive your satellite TV.
Not only wired solutions are not sensitive to interference from other devices or your neighbors' networks, they are also safer. "MoCA as a garden is fenced in," said Rob Gelphman, an executive with the MoCA Alliance, a trade group.
Most people love the idea of streaming video – and that is the other major problem. Video is an Internet connection requires that more bits per second streams to provide a high quality image on your TV.
While a basic DSL or cable Internet connection speed can only be good for the achievement of the Web and download music, you will probably need to pay for the speed bump up – and more to your Internet Service Provider – if you are want to watch streaming movies.
Netflix, one of the best performances for streaming of movies, says it adjusts its picture quality depending on each user's connection speed. Specifically recommends a minimum of 5 megabits per second if you want to watch his streaming movies in high definition. To watch movies while you do other things online, you need more speed.
To minimize problems when you try to stream video wirelessly, you need a router, the "Quality of Service" streaming. With these latest products, the router gives a higher priority to more demanding video traffic data as Internet downloads.
For example, Netgear WNDR3700 router about $ 150) gives (the highest priority to voice over IP applications (Phone calls made to services like Skype or Vonage ), then video, Web sites, file transfers and bit torrents, in that order.
Some products automatically identify and assign priorities streamed content, while others may require the user to manually set these parameters.
Most companies try to make it understandable. Cisco offers valet line of routers, which should encourage jargon that wireless connections plug and play, free from the configuration. Netgear router with a setup program is accessible from a website.
Setting up a home network can for a plug and play to move the future, but to get there most likely will need to follow a different strategy: go back and buy.
Unfortunately, router makers seem to think, is that normal. According to Mr. Melfi from D-Link, the choice of the right product is still a trial-and-error process.
"It's like a doctor: There are five treatments for a problem. You need to select the best."
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